The small village of Chinpo didn’t have soldiers guarding the road nor a gate to keep travelers out. The wall around Mallma allowed villages like this to remain relatively safe, while not wasting resources on additional guards or defensive structures. Of course, this was only true when the royals kept roving clans of bandits under control. Before the war of Inges Salvos, those who robbed lived on borrowed time.

  Once within town limits, I stopped the first yaksha I found. “Might I have a word my lady?”

  The young red-haired woman peered at me for a moment, then glanced down at her tattered yellow dress. “I’m but a maiden, sir. But a word you may have.” Her hand trembled as she ran it across her dress, as if straightening it.

  Even when my actions were polite, my large stature often struck fear in those around me. But not normally in maidens while in the village with Petra still lighting the sky. “I seek the watch captain. Do you know where I might find him?”

  She shook her head. “He was...” She paused. “The Chinpo guards can explain our situation. You can find them in the lock-up.” Her voice changed when she said the word guards.

  Guards was an interesting word for her to trip over. I wondered if she had a bad experience with one of them, if she had recently committed a crime, or if whatever strangeness was happening included those who called themselves Chinpo guards. For a moment, I considered asking her more questions, but didn’t want to frighten her further. The lock-up would be located at the village square, so I wouldn’t need her to provide directions.

  Victoria locked eyes with the young woman. “Your watch captain, was he killed?”

  The woman diverted her gaze. “It is not my place to discuss Chinpo business.”

  Her answer was the same as saying yes. She would have no reason to say no if the watch captain still lived. None of this was the Mallma I grew up in. Bandits ran free and the watch captain was slain. I’d expect to see soldiers from the capital keeping the peace, and the royals investigating the crime. While not a royal himself, the watch captain was an agent of the crown. Killing him would be punishable by death.

  Instinctively, I reached for my coin pouch. Knights were given a generous salary, which they didn’t mind throwing around as payment for information. This resulted in peasants being willing to give aid without the need for threats. But I no longer had a salary, nor did I have the coin to distribute. “Thank you, my lady. I am in your debt.”

  As I continued forward, pulling my cart, Miles and Victoria followed.

  During our stroll to the square, I couldn’t help but notice the lack of yaksha on the roads. Even in a small village, the main roads were normally heavily used when Petra was up. This reminded me more of a border colony, where the rule of law didn’t exist. The yaksha here were frightened of something. So scared that town commerce had all but shut down.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  My eyes locked on someone swinging from a rope next to what appeared to be the lock-up. It wasn’t the first hanging yaksha I’d ever seen, but never had I witnessed a body being left on the rope after he had passed. Not inside the tall walls of Mallma. That type of dark warning was reserved for battlefields in the border villages.

  “Oh, my.” Victoria put her hand to her mouth.

  “What do you make of that?” Miles asked.

  “I’m thinking that is the watch captain.” My focus settled on two guards who sat in front of the lock-up. They seemed unbothered by who I assumed was their former boss swinging less than a stone’s throw away. This was also the first time I saw a lock-up that had guards on the outside. Normally, they sat in front of cells, keeping prisoners from escaping, not preventing anyone from getting in. Who were they trying to keep out?

  Their eyes locked on me as we approached. One of them, with a scar on his cheek, lowered his hand toward his sword and nodded at me. “What’s in the cart?”

  “The content of my cart is my business.”

  “You’re in Chinpo, and we’re the Chinpo guards. When we ask you a question, we expect an answer.”

  I studied the guard. He acted unlike any I had met. His manner of speaking sounded more like the way a royal spoke to peasants, as if possessing absolute authority over them. “You’re addressing a knight.”

  “Pulling a wagon.” He chuckled. “Let me guess.” He pointed at Miles and Victoria. “They are your servants, but you carry the wagon.”

  “Do you not see the linen I wear?”

  The other guard spoke up. “Did you steal the cart and the clothing?”

  After releasing the wooden handles, I pulled my hammer from the cart and heaved it onto my shoulder. “I am Stevyn the Cursed, operating on orders from the royals. Do you question my mandate?”

  They both stood a little stiffer. The scar-faced guard cleared his throat. “We weren’t told you would be coming into town.” He glanced at his buddy. “See him inside and let Sumat know of his arrival.”

  The guard opened the door and held it.

  I parked the cart under the swinging body, glancing up at it long enough to make them nervous, hoping they would mention it without me asking.

  “Your servants can watch over your cart.” The guard said.

  Turning to Victoria, I said, “Remain here with the cart. If anyone approaches, call for me.” I waved for Miles to come with me.

  “Sir,” the first guard said. “They are welcome to wait out here.”

  “Miles will join me.” I didn’t really need Miles inside. If this was a trap, he would be of little help. Plus, I began worrying about Victoria’s safety outside. It would be more difficult for an... accident... to happen to both of them. But I wanted to push the guard to see how he reacted.

  “We are to limit the guests inside the lock-up until further notice.”

  I scratched my chin. He had dropped the fa?ade of having any power, and now deferred the authority to those he answered to. I wanted to know who that was, but didn’t want him to know that I wanted to know. Perhaps pushing a little harder might cause him to drop the name. “Do you have a dangerous prisoner locked up inside?”

  He shook his head. “No prisoners at this time.”

  Reading the yaksha’s face, I realized he was being purposely vague. If he was told not to divulge the name of the man in charge, then he likely wouldn’t give it up without an outright threat. I wasn’t ready to make an enemy of a royal or knight whose name I didn’t yet know. I glanced at Miles and nodded. “Join Victoria. See that she is safe.” I turned to the guard. “If anything happens to either of them, regardless of the cause, I’m going to take it out on you.”

  “The hammer can stay out here also,” the second guard said.

  I raised my eyebrows as I locked eyes with him. “Try to take it from me.”

  His hand, the one holding the door, trembled. “My orders are-”

  “Stick your orders up your arse,” I said. “Only a royal can order a knight to disarm.”

  The color left his face. “Do tell them I tried.”

  I nodded as I walked through the door.